Kate Davis - Lull

About

At the invitation of the late Dr. Robert Woof, Kate Davis lived and worked at The Wordsworth Trust in the Lake District as part of the visual arts residency. During her time at Grasmere, Davis focused on some of the deeper meanings in her practice, which found fertile comparisons with the creative, romantic and symbolic literary traditions that the Trust preserves. Her residency led to a major exhibition and publication, and the London exhibition reflects its concerns.

As befits a truly romantic exhibition Davis has chosen the Goddess of Love as the most recent subject of her pinhole drawings of historic sculptures of women made by men. This specific Goddess of Love is, Aphrodite 'of the splendid buttocks', Aphrodite Kallipygos.

With myths, transitions and transformations the exhibition draws together a new group of works. A spinning wall sculpture forms a vibrant red target which slows down to reveal a text and lures the viewer into the space. Placed in the centre of the space, anchored by a bronze branch is a mirror polished stainless steel boat, formed to hold a single female. In a photographic work, Eros is found in an idyllic landscape poised with an arrow aimed at the mouth of a cave. Within the installation these works alongside others are held in a state of lull.

A full colour catalogue headhearthole published in association with the Wordsworth Trust with essays by Sarah Kent and Gabriel Coxhead will be available from the gallery.